Friday, May 22

Today we visited the famous Galleries Lafayette, a massive mall of luxury and everyday goods. They opened up all the stops and put on a full fledged fashion show. I got to feel like a fashion photographer and take hundreds of pictures of the models as they wore funky hats and outlandish shoes back and forth on the runway. Again, without any thought, the only place to visit next was the Lourve. It was fun entering the large glass pyramid featured in the DaVinci code. Knowing that there were miles of exhibits, I had to be very selective in order to maximize the three hours that I had to absorb the masterpieces lining the walls. The first and most important stop was to see the Mona Lisa by Davinci. After taking pictures of this ugly woman, we meandered the halls of the French, Italian and Spanish paintings as well as the sculpture sector. My favorite piece was a famous sculpture called Winged Victory and its beauty and depiction of an angelic figure emerging victorious from who knows what struggle was inspirational. I now have a new love for realism and classical painting and I hope to incorporate some of the techniques and styles I learned into my art.